The African Union said on Wednesday that it guaranteed 270 million doses of the anti-Covid vaccine for the continent, in an agreement that will benefit countries that cannot finance their own immunization campaigns.
Under the agreement, vaccines will be provided by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Doses will complement vaccines guaranteed through Covax, the global effort to acquire and distribute vaccines that closed deals to secure two billion doses
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, our focus as a continent has been collaboration and collective effort. We have firmly adhered to the principle that no country should be left behind, “South African President and AU President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a special African Union meeting on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa, who established the Vaccine Procurement Task Force for Africa (AVATT), gave details of the doses he had secured for the special meeting.
The task force was created in August to ensure that the African continent could guarantee sufficient doses to achieve community immunity.
“As a result of our own efforts, we have so far secured a provisional commitment of 270 million vaccines from three main suppliers: Pfizer, AstraZeneca (through the Serum Institute of India) and Johnson & Johnson,” he said.
All 270 million doses of the vaccine will be made available this year, with 50 million delivered between April and June, a statement said without giving further details on the schedule.
Despite Covax’s efforts, the African Union added in a statement that it remains concerned that the “volumes to be released between February and June may not extend beyond the needs of frontline health professionals and therefore may not be enough to contain the increase in the number of victims of the pandemic in Africa.
“Another challenge is that the goal of 600 million doses of Covax will cover only about 300 million people across the African continent, which represents only about 20% of the population,” he added.